


What Are You Doing Here?

by peggy_hamilton



Series: Band Of Brothers Imagines [18]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 03:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20351359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggy_hamilton/pseuds/peggy_hamilton
Summary: You're a nurse working in Bastogne and you develop a crush on Roe, unfortunately he likes Renee





	What Are You Doing Here?

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on my tumblr @justthinkingofwaystoavoidbusses
> 
> original request: Hi! Could you make a band of brothers story with Roe where you met him in a hospital as a nurse but then the war ended and you stop hearing from him and seeing him because he disappeared. you meet him again after the war after bumping into each other - anon / Love your writing. Can I see a reader and Eugene Roe one where you are a nurse like Renee? - @ohtheclevernessof

You bit your lip as you tried not to glare out the window where you could see Renee and Roe outside talking quietly together amongst the rubble, you had tried to ignore the jealousy that had bloomed within you but it refused to die down. As you soaked the used bandages in hot water you couldn’t help but be envious of the Belgian nurse, even amongst all this chaos she still managed to look stunningly beautiful while you looked about as good as you felt. You hated feeling like this, especially towards her, she was one of the most genuinely lovely people you had ever met and it wasn’t her fault that the medic who dropped by was taken by her rather than you.

“You should tell them how you feel,” Anna spoke up quietly beside you.

“It wouldn’t be right.”

Anna shrugged, “There is very little happiness to be found at times like this. You could find it with him.”

“So does Renee,” you nodded out towards them, she deserved as much happiness as you did and you wouldn’t be the one to take it from her.

Before Anna could reply she got called away, leaving you alone to sterilise bandages and ignore Roe and Renee outside.

—

“Nurse!”

You jolted awake, having only slept for close to ten minutes, you ran to the entrance and briefly recognised Roe was carting in a wounded man. Your eyes zeroed in on the large wound on his stomach and chest which was bleeding steadily. “Back here,” you ordered and the man was carried over into the back room.

They set him on the table and you instantly pulled apart the man’s shirt and began to wipe away the blood. “Is there shrapnel?” you asked.

“Yes, it’s in there deep,” Roe replied. You didn’t hesitate shoving your hand into the wound to dig around for the piece of metal, the man thrashed in pain and Roe held him down. There was no morphine for the pain.

Metal brushed the tip of your finger, “Almost got it,” you muttered, trying to push in deeper to get a better grip but it was too late, the man choked on his own blood and went limp. The blood stopped flowing through his body and you quickly removed your hand, “Goddammit,” you swore and wiped the blood of your hand and arm the best you could.

“I’m sorry,” Roe said.

“Not your fault,” you sighed, looking up into his eyes and for a moment you were struck still, then the world refocused. Back to the cries of the wounded, back to the dead man on the table, back to the smell of blood and death that permeated the air.

Roe stayed in the aid station for another small while, it could have been minutes or hours you didn’t know. The wounded never stopped and you rarely had a time to rest, you didn’t know the last time you had eaten or slept as all the food and energy you had went to the men. You and Roe worked well together, quietly and in sync with one another, you were like two halfs of the same coin and neither of you needed to ask what the other needed when trying to save a man.

When he returned to the lines you felt a little emptier, if that was even possible, you knew it would only be a matter of time before you would see him again as he brought in more wounded men.

—

You heard the planes before they got to Bastogne. You had been outside the church on a rare breather, the cold wind was much fresher than the stuffy air inside and you revelled in the relief it brought you. The distant rumble and drone first turned your stomach, you knew in almost a second what was about to happen.

In a heartbeat you were on your feet and into the church, “We’re about to be bombed, evacuate the-”

A loud explosion rocked the ground and you tumbled to the floor, loud explosions could be heard all around as the blew up the town. You got to your feet and began helping men sit up, you saw that Renee and Anna were doing the same thing.

You had gathered a group of about ten men who could probably walk on their own with little assistance, “Come on!” you yelled over the sound of the attack. There was a small underground station down the street you planned to take them too to wait out the attack.

As you herded them out a few more men saw you were leaving and attempted to follow after you, “Take as many as you can to the station!” you yelled to Renee and Anna, they nodded and began to help others up,

A shell hit the roof of the church and the ceiling caved in, covering the place in dust and smoke it was hard to breathe. “This way!” you yelled, grabbing a man’s arm and hauling him along with you out of the church with Renee and Anna on your heels. Or so you thought.

You had only gotten a few paces down the street when a bomb exploded behind you and knocked you and the man to the floor. You coughed out smoke and forced yourself to stand up, looking behind you you almost threw up at the sight of the church completely demolished and nobody else had made it out. The man you had been dragging had been partially crushed by falling debris and there was nothing you could do to help him now.

Almost in slow motion you turned around and began to jog then sprint to the station, it was pitch black and you could hardly see through the dust smoke and fire, you ran for your life.

—

Roe hopped off the jeep and looked at the devastation that had wrecked Bastogne, his eyes settled on the collapsed church and wondered if any of you had made it out. He walked forward in a trance, spotting a familiar blue headscarf amongst the wreckage, that was all he needed to know. None of you had made it, all of you were dead.

—

You were being moved to an aid station outside of Rachamps which you were endlessly grateful for, finally you could get out of the suffocating environment the station had become in those last few weeks in Bastogne. Never before had you seen so many men wounded and if you saw another injured man for the rest of your life it would be too soon.

Nevertheless, you got stationed in an old cleared out barn on standby for the attack on the tow. When it started soon enough men came coming back with various injuries which was infinitely easier to treat and deal with than in Bastogne.

It felt lonely without Renee and Anna by your side, there were other nurses but you didn’t click with them like you had done before. You were becoming more and more distant but there wasn’t much time to think about yourself.

“In here,” a medic helped a limping man through the doors of the barn, looked at you and froze.

You squinted, unsure why he was staring at you, “Can I help you?”

“Y/N?” the man whispered, eyes wide.

“Roe?” you were sure it was him, he looked dirtier and exhausted but it was undoubtedly him. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking the town, what are you doing here?” he asked slowly.

“Being a nurse.”

“I thought you were dead.”

That shocked you, “What? Why?”

“The-the church was gone.”

You realised that you hadn’t seen each other after the bombing and the move to the station and how he must have assumed you were in there with the other, like you should have been, “No. No I got out just in time. I’m sorry Renee didn’t make it.”

He nodded a little, “It is what it is, I’m glad you made it.”

The man who Roe was still supporting cleared his throat and the two of you quickly jumped into action and placed him on a bed. You began tending to the bullet hole in his arm while Roe went back out into the town.

—

“So you thought I was dead, huh?” you nudged Roe’s shoulder gently, the battle had ended and the aid station was quiet for a minute or two of peace.

He nodded, “I saw Renee’s scarf and I knew she was gone, I thought that you must have been in there too. I didn’t really go back into the town after that.”

You nodded in understanding, you wouldn’t have done either, “I should have been in there with them.”

Roe shook his head fiercely, “No, you were where you should have been. They should have been with you, not you with them, but they weren’t and it wasn’t your fault. You did the right thing.”

You licked your chapped lips and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, I guess. When did you get to be so smart?” you smiled at him.

He smiled and shook his head at you.

—

He and his company got moved out again soon and you had to stay behind to take care of the men and get them to a hospital, now that you had each other’s details you tried to stay in as much contact as possible for the rest of the war.

It would only be small letter written on old spare paper, updating each other on how life was going and how the war seemed to be coming to an end.

VE day passed.

VJ day passed.

Everyone had been or was being sent home, back to the US, and you didn’t get another letter from him.

—

“Please, please, please, please, please,” you younger sister begged down the phone.

You sighed, “I’ll see if I can get down there.”

“Yay!” she squealed, “I’ll see you Saturday.”

It had been almost two years since the war ended and you were still adjusting to civilian life, it wasn’t unusual to wake up in the middle of night because you thought someone was calling for you to help a wounded man. Though the nightmares had certainly died down. A few months back your little sister, Jenny, had gotten married and moved to Louisiana and she was now begging for you to go down and visit her.

You hadn’t seen her in a while and you had no excuse not to, but you had been putting of the visit for some time now as you had gotten very comfortable living in your quiet apartment in a quiet village.

Still, there was no going back and you began to pack for your stay.

—

“Thank you for lunch, Jenny, if you don’t mind I was thinking we could pop into town.”

Jenny bit her lip, “Actually I was going to go visit David at work, but you could still go down if you wanted to.”

You nodded, “That’s fine.” What had meant to be a two day trip had turned into a week long trip and you were itching to get a little alone time, not that you didn’t love your sister but you needed some space.

She walked you to town and you split off, you idly began to wander through the streets and browse in the shop windows at all the little trinket and books displayed. You turned down a corner and bumped into someone who grabbed your upper arms to steady you before you could fall, “Sorry, ma’am.”

“No, sorry, it was my fau-”

You looked up to see a very familiar face staring down at you, “Roe?”

He blinked a few times before placing your face, “Y/N? What are you doing here?”

“Visiting my sister, and you?”

“I live here,” he shrugged.

You nodded in interest then suddenly hit his chest sharply, he looked a little affronted at the action, “You stopped writing me.”

He looked bashful and rubbed the back of his neck, “I didn’t know what to say, to you, to anybody. You’re not the only one.”

Your harsh gaze softened and you nodded, “Yeah, I get that. So how’s life treating you? Are you well? Do you have a girl?”

“I’m doing okay and no, I don’t.”

You couldn’t help the excited flip of your stomach at that but quickly squashed it. “And you.”

“I’m doing okay, single as well.”

“That’s good.” He nodded then his eyes widened, “Not that you being single is good, not that it’s bad either, just, y’know. It’s good you’re okay.”

You laughed, “Roe it’s fine I know what you mean.”

He smiled and blushed, “Okay, we aren’t at war anymore you can call me Gene.”

“Gene,” you said aloud and smiled, “I like it.”

“How long are you in town for?” he asked.

You shrugged, “No clue.”

“Would you be interested in coming back to mine for dinner, I bought some food in just yesterday. I’m no chef, but if you wanted…”

“I’d love to,” you cut him off with a smile and he smiled wide at you.

“I live near by if you want to go now, or were you still shopping?”

You shook your head, “I can go now,” you began to follow him through the streets, he offered you his arm and you happily linked yours with him. “People around here may begin to talk if they see you with a random lady on your arm,” you teased.

“I don’t mind if they talk.”

“Neither do I,” you smiled.


End file.
